News and events

Reading fans packed into the Tilehurst Royal British Legion hall on Thursday night to listen to a night of stories from club legends Mick Gooding and Jimmy Quinn.

The duo, who made more than 500 appearances between them for Royals, were also joint player-managers and guided the team to the Division 1 play-off final in 1995 - where they were beaten by Bolton Wanderers.

And on Thursday, with the help of host Ady Williams, they entertained a packed out crowd at an event hosted by the Reading FC Former Player's Association.

"Jimmy and Mick made a great pairing," said Reading fan Ian Moulsley, who was in the sell out crowd.

"You could see how they complement each other with their different styles. The one thing they had in abundance was humour, right the way through the evening."

The night started with the pair talking about how they first got into the football and how they made their way to Reading.

Stories about their time at the club then followed, bringing plenty of laughter from the crowd - before the conversation turned to that famous day at Wembley in 1995.

"But one of the topics for discussion was always going to be the play-off final.

"After the penalty miss Mick picked himself up off the pitch and almost felt the wave of noise coming from the Bolton end and knew at that point we were up against it despite still being 2-0 up at the time.

"The rest is history - although a certain Polish international centreback came in for a bit of stick, and not just in relation to that game either."

As well as listening to Mick, Jimmy and Ady, supporters were also able to ask questions during a Q&A, enjoy a fish and chip dinner and bid for a signed Reading shirt and football.

The evening followed on from similar nights which have been put on by on the Reading FC Former Player's Association recently.

Ian said: "They always put on a great event, and this one was no exception.

"Ady for his part was a brilliant host and kept the discussion and Q&A moving as well.

"All in all it was a fabulous evening. Massive thanks to Richard Wickson and everyone connected with Reading FPA for such a great night."

Wickson, chairman of the Former Player's Association, added: "This was an evening of football talk. Three former team-mates sharing a laugh with the audience relating anecdotes and stories from pitch side and the training ground.

"Ady is the perfect compere. A veritable Piers Morgan amongst sports commentators. He, Mick and Jimmy are legends amongst former players and they were all part of a very successful period in Reading FC's history. Between them, they have over 60 years' experience in the game and their wealth of knowledge is incredible.

"Mick and Jim were open and honest about their time as players and managers and with Ady as the perfect host, they spoke of the good times and some bad.

"As Ady said in his closing line, this was the fourth in the series of evenings and probably the best. We will have to go some way to beat this one."